Patients with Opioid Use Disorder Enrolled in Medicaid Were LESS LIKELY TOLEHEET CHARE SARE AFTER AFTER SOVID-19 Pandemic, Compared to Patients with PRIVATE INSURED dy Published in Health Services Research,

Opioid-Related Overdose Deaths in the Us Reached An All-Time High in the Last Several Years, with more than 100,000 related Deaths reported in 2022 by the National Institute on Drug Abuse.

While The Popularization of Telehealth Care during the Covid-19 Pandemic Sugged Increased Access to Care For PATENTS with Opioid Use Disorder, Tear Stodies Have Examined Care Care Care Care Care Care Care Care IENCE Barriers to Telehealth Care, Said Melinda Xu, A First-Year Medical Student and a co-author of the study.

“Telehealth has been shown to address critical barriers to accessing opioid use disorder Ionals. However, Telehealth has barriers of its To high-speed broadband, a working computer and high levels of technological literature, factors that are more likely to challenge those with lower income than whatscome income.

“Prior Studies have focused on the use of telehealth for opioid use disorder treatment for either of these groups but not comparatively,” Xu said.

In the study, Xu analyzed electronic health data collected from January 2019 through December 2021 from patients diagnosed with opioid use disorder who had contact with the Northwestern Medicine health care system.

Xu Found That While Medicaid Patients We More Likely to Receive Telehealth Care Compared to Privately Insured Patents Before The Covid-19 Pandemic, Medicaid Enrollees was 43.7% LESS LISS LISS LISS Iets to receive any opioid use disorder treatment after the Pandemic.

The Findings Sugges The Rise of Telehealth May Widen Disparities in Care for Medicaid Patients and UndersCore the need for future telehealth policies to address these gaps in opioid use disorders, quoting to xu.

“For example, the 2024 final rule aligning 42 cfr part 2 with the health insurance portability and accountability act can enhance confidancial protection and improve core core core courses INTS, Supporting Equitable Telehealth Access. Outcomes and ensure telehealth benefits all population equitibly, “Xu said.